Toronto 45 The Esplanade | 128.85m | 39s | Republic | Arcadis

Rimawi said:
We should start a petition to save this base. It’s such a stunner, fits with the historic character of the neighbourhood and would be a shame to lose
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I think putting pressure on City Council would also be effective, since they're the ones holding the bag here. And it's their rules that this colonnade has to be torn down.
 
I would love a good colonnade, but this is not it, and a normal sidewalk is better than what is currently there. Let's start a petition to get a proper colonnade :)

But anyways, it sounds like the developer has done its homework, and we'll be getting a nice wide sidewalk with no shelter regardless of who puts forward any petitions.
 
Rimawi said:
We should start a petition to save this base. It’s such a stunner, fits with the historic character of the neighbourhood and would be a shame to lose
Click to expand...
Exactly, we need to keep this kind of historic structures, not everything has to be grey and glass…
 
Rimawi said:
We should start a petition to save this base. It’s such a stunner, fits with the historic character of the neighbourhood and would be a shame to lose
Click to expand...
You have every right to enjoy and appreciate this colonnade space, I’ve always been a little fond of it myself, to be entirely honest. I like the space it creates. That said, I am seeing a lot of people here projecting their own idea that it’s contextual and reflective of the character of the neighbourhood even though its architectural references / the era it references, its built form (the colonnade), and its materiality are all not reflective of the neighbourhood that existed there before. It was inserted into the area in the 1980s by an architect and developer with their own ideas about what the Esplanade should be. (And that’s okay 👍 ). It doesn’t reproduce the character of anything contextual other than the use of dormers and perhaps the arches - full stop.

You can argue for the merits of the colonnade and how the design reflects the kind of neighbourhood or city you want to live in, but don’t recruit arguments that are objectively wrong or misleading. Your argument will be stronger if your rhetoric makes sense.
 
The podium with all those repeated window punch outs makes it look monsterous and relentlessly long.
The Ace Hotel-like arches doesn’t help either. It would be better if the brick panels between the 2nd/3rd and 4th/5th floor windows were black steel panels to make them look like one larger punched opening and less busy.
And yes, bringing back the colonnade would be really nice too!
 
chng.it

This campaign needs you now

Protect and designate 45 The Esplanade facade and Colonnade
chng.it chng.it

Created a petition linked above to help put pressure to save the structure. Please sign it if you have the time and share it to friends and family or on social media. You’d be surprised the number of people that would be interested after they are clued into what’s happening. Also thank you for the beautiful images of the building mburrrr! I have used a couple for the petition.
 
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Is this application closed? :)

The OZ is closed but the SA link seems weird.
I thought the OLT made a decision or they agreed to some action to be completed by the spring of 2024.
They have removed the school and application signs out front of the building.
The revised drawings presented at the community consultation meeting were never posted on the city’s site.



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Good question - I also wondered why and how. Perhaps because the zoning was settled during summer of 2023 - https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2023.CC6.5.

Though there may be some conditions to still clear with the city and going back to the OLT for final and binding zoning by spring 2024 - https://jus-olt-prod.powerappsporta...ails/?id=737a0927-b624-ed11-9db2-002248ae4fef

Not sure what stage site plan is at - I don't see any submissions as of late.

And I am pretty certain the signs were removed by hotel management. Usually hotels don't like having dev or school signs out front.
 
Rimawi said:
We should start a petition to save this base. It’s such a stunner, fits with the historic character of the neighbourhood and would be a shame to lose
Click to expand...
It's a shame that the city doesn't see this building as a notable looking structure for this district!
 
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